Tim Kreider, We Learn Nothing

Unexpected nuance from a firebrand cartoonist.

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Political cartoons are drawn in stark black-and-white,
snapshots that leave little room for nuance. As a political cartoonist,
Tim Kreider was limited by the speech bubbles, but his collection of
essays and cartoons, We Learn Nothing (Free Press, 240 pages,
$20), gives him room to draw observations outside of the panels.
Anticipating something like caustic wit from an artist who spent eight
years cheerfully harpooning the Bush administration, I was relieved to
find careful observations on life’s complexity.

That Kreider is more
than a little familiar with complexity is clear from his vibrant and
relatable anecdotes. Could a friend’s sex change, or the condition of
being addicted to love, or of meeting half-siblings for the first time
at 40, ever be described as anything other than complicated?

The focus being
almost entirely on his own life, Kreider’s approach is not that of your
typical, smug cultural commentator. While most columnists pull from
their own experiences to tease out universals, the goal is usually to
talk about something other than themselves.

Kreider is engaging
precisely because he turns his wit on himself. His unflinching
self-awareness, aimed at even the most reprehensible corners of his
character, allows readers to recognize their own questionable tendencies
without feeling attacked.

To offer a
particularly timely example, in an essay entitled “When They’re Not
Assholes,” Kreider catches himself hating on flag-waving, protesting
bible-thumpers. After recognizing a student he respects among their
ranks, he’s ashamed of the generalizations he’s made, indirectly
suggesting that you might want to think about being ashamed of your own.

In a political
atmosphere as angry as this, his oblique, self-deprecating commentary
may be the only angle to which party loyalists on either side are likely
to respond. We Learn Nothing should be their required reading.